Chandler police: 37 cases involving ID theft so far this year

Chandler police have arrested several people in recent weeks on suspicion of identity theft, but officials say that isn’t out of the ordinary.

Financial Crimes Unit Detective Jason Schouten said he and other detectives have noticed a significant increase in their caseloads, but that it’s hard to pinpoint a specific reason or to call it a trend because oftentimes the cases come in waves.

“In Chandler, it’s constant,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons we have our (financial crimes) unit.”

From Jan. 1 through Feb. 5, there have been 37 fraud cases involving some form of identity theft, according to Chandler Police Department data. The number is on pace to surpass last year, during which there were 259 incidents between April 3 and Dec. 31.

In addition to stealing a person’s name, social security number, and other personal information for various uses, including to gain employment or open lines of credit, identity theft cases also can include such crimes as credit card theft, check fraud and credit card fraud, Schouten said. The perpetrators range from individuals to large criminal organizations operating in other countries.

“There’s so many different categories that identity theft falls in and that’s why it’s quite rampant,” he said.

The impact on a person whose identity is stolen can be huge.

It is a very time-consuming process for a person to get things straightened out, whether it’s with collectors, credit card companies, banks and financial institutions, the Internal Revenue Service, or Department of Economic Security. People also could be forced to deal with delays in getting unemployment checks, tax refund checks, credit restored, or other services while everything is sorted out.

And sometimes, it never goes away.

“These crooks pass around that information and they continue to use it and it’s just an ongoing problem, and it’s a heartache,” Schouten said. “Who wants to go through that? Who deserves to go through that? I would say nobody.”

The Police Department has made several identity theft arrests in recent weeks. Two cases were:

Police arrested Simon Perez Fausto, 35, of Chandler, last week on suspicion of credit card theft, possession of dangerous drugs for sale, narcotic drug possession, and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to department booking documents. Police say Fausto took a Visa credit card another customer accidentally left at a Circle K. He also had multiple glass pipes, cocaine and prepackaged methamphetamine.

Officers arrested Antonio Fernandez Hernandez, 31, of Tempe, on Jan. 23 and booked him on one count of taking the identity of another, booking records show. Police say he used another person’s name and social security number to gain employment at the Benihana’s restaurant near Chandler Fashion Center mall.

Schouten said a majority of the identity theft cases they handle are people using another person’s social security number, name and birthday to pass through federal verification system called eVerify and gain employment, like in Hernandez’s case.

“Most of the time, that’s all they’re doing with that person’s information because that was their sole purpose,” he said, “is just to get that employment because for one reason or another they’re not legal to work.”

Many other times, a Chandler resident will discover they are a victim of identity theft and during the course of the Police Department’s investigation, detectives learn the perpetrators are operating in a different city, state or country, Schouten said. They then complete their investigation and forward it to the agency in whose jurisdiction the criminals are operating.

There are a number of ways a person’s personal information can be compromised, including spam emails and mail, credit card skimmers, and important documents and information not being stored and disposed of securely.

Schouten urged people to stay vigilant by regularly checking their credit, checking their and their children’s social security numbers for income collected, being suspicious of and using common sense when opening emails, shredding everything, keeping important documents in secure locations, not leaving purses and wallets in cars, using cash when possible and when paying with a credit card to never let it out of their sight.

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